Those "old-timer" assets that were once mocked by crypto enthusiasts are now staging an astonishing comeback. I have been a crypto analyst for over ten years, but the market outlook for 2025 forces me to reevaluate my judgments — the returns on traditional precious metals are actually far surpassing those of cryptocurrencies.

The data is in front of us: gold prices surged to around $4,500 per ounce from the beginning of the year, an increase of over 71%; silver performed even more strongly, breaking through $69 per ounce, with an annual surge of 142%. In contrast, the crypto market saw Bitcoin down 6% for the year, Ethereum down 12%, and even crypto star MicroStrategy was cut in half. Platinum rose 142%, palladium up 102%, with precious metals dominating the scene.

This is no coincidence. I spent considerable time analyzing the underlying logic and found that after the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates, the capital flow was completely unexpected — instead of flooding into high-risk assets as anticipated, there was a large-scale rush into precious metals as safe-haven assets.

The real driving force is the global central banks' gold purchasing behavior. In Q3 2025, global gold demand reached 1,313 tons, setting a new quarterly high, up 3% year-over-year. Central bank gold purchases also hit record levels. This phenomenon has never occurred in recent years. The market is sending a signal — institutional funds are systematically adjusting their asset allocations, favoring traditional safe-haven assets.

Interestingly, if this logic holds, the precious metals market in 2026 may just be entering a true bull run.